Grace Dangberg

Grace Dangberg
Dangberg in the 1917 yearbook of the University of California
Born(1896-02-26)February 26, 1896
Nevada, U.S.
DiedNovember 29, 1985(1985-11-29) (aged 89)
Palo Alto, California, U.S.
OccupationsAnthropologist, local historian

Grace Melissa Dangberg (February 26, 1896 – November 29, 1985) was an American anthropologist, local historian, and writer, based in Nevada's Carson Valley.

Early life and education

Dangberg was raised in Minden, Nevada, the daughter of John Bismark Dangberg and Georgia Beeding Dangberg. Her grandfather, H. F. Dangberg, was one of the European founders of her hometown,[1] which is named for the city in Germany.[2][3] She graduated from the University of California in 1917, and pursued further studies in anthropology there[4][5] and at Columbia University. At California she studied with Alfred Kroeber and Robert Lowie; at Columbia, she worked more with Lowie, and with Franz Boas.[6]

Career

Dangberg was secretary and treasurer of the Dangberg Land and Livestock Company.[7] She used her anthropological training to document the language and culture of the Washoe people in the Carson Valley.[8][9][10] She was a founder of the Carson Valley Historical Society and the Genoa Court House Museum,[11] and worked to preserve and archive local records. She was an active member of the American Anthropological Association in the 1920s.[12]

In 1982 she established the Grace Dangberg Foundation, to support Nevada history projects. In 1984 she gave an oral history interview to the University of Nevada Oral History Project.[6] She donated almost a million dollars to the University of Nevada, Reno.[7]

Publications

  • Washoe Texts (1927)[5]
  • "Source Material for the History of the West" (1939, with William M. Maule)[13]
  • "Letters to Jack Wilson, the Paiute Prophet, written between 1908 and 1911" (1957)[14]
  • "Washoe Tales" and "Wovoka" (1968)[7]
  • Carson Valley (1972)[15][16]
  • "Conflict on the Carson: A Study of Water Litigation in Western Nevada" (1975)[17]
  • A Guide to the Life and Works of Frederick J. Teggart (1983)[18]

Personal life

Dangberg died in 1985, at the age of 89, in Palo Alto, California.[7] The Nevada legislature marked her death with a Senate Joint Resolution detailing her achievements.[19] There is a historical marker about Grace Dangberg in Minden, Nevada, erected in 1988.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Myers, Laura (1985-10-27). "Dangberg family played historic role in shaping Carson Valley". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 20. Retrieved 2026-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Dangberg Home Ranch Endowment | Community Foundation of Northern Nevada". Community Foundation of Northern Nevada. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
  3. ↑ "Carson Valley Impresses German Writer Who Tells of Visit in Berlin Paper". Reno Gazette-Journal. 1929-11-28. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Honor Awards Announced at Commencement". The San Francisco Call Bulletin. 1919-06-04. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 "Cat Tail Seed Source of Humans, is Indian View; U.C. Savant Translates Washoe Idea of Creation". San Francisco Chronicle. 1927-04-10. p. 90. Retrieved 2026-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 "Grace Melissa Dangberg: An Oral History". ONE: Online Nevada Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Melton, Wayne (1985-12-04). "Author Grace Dangberg dies". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 33. Retrieved 2026-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Lavie, Smadar; Narayan, Kirin; Rosaldo, Renato (2018-03-15). Creativity/Anthropology. Cornell University Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-5017-2603-3.
  9. ↑ Stewart, Omer Call (1987). Peyote Religion: A History. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-8061-2457-5.
  10. ↑ Lynch, Don (1997-01-01). Wovoka and the Ghost Dance. U of Nebraska Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-8032-7308-5.
  11. ↑ Morby, Velda (1979-07-22). "Genoa museum worthy of praise". Nevada State Journal. p. 83. Retrieved 2026-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Officers and Members, 1928". American Anthropologist. 31 (1): 198. January–March 1929.
  13. ↑ Dangberg, Grace M.; Maule, William M. (July 1939). "Source Material for the History of the West". Geographical Review. 29 (3): 520. doi:10.2307/209900.
  14. ↑ Dangberg, Grace M. "Letters to Jack Wilson, the Paiute Prophet, written between 1908 and 1911." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Anthropological Papers No. 55 (1957).
  15. ↑ Grace Dangberg (1972-01-01). Carson Valley; historical sketches of Nevada's first settlement. Internet Archive. Carson Valley Historical Society.
  16. ↑ "Reception Honors Author of Book on Carson Valley". Nevada State Journal. 1972-12-10. p. 45. Retrieved 2026-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Dangberg, Grace. "Conflict on the Carson: A Study of Water Litigation in Western Nevada." Minden: Carson Valley Historical Society (1975).
  18. ↑ Dangberg, Grace. A Guide to the Life and Works of Frederick J. Teggart. Grace Dangberg Foundation, 1983.
  19. ↑ Nevada (1987). Statutes of the State of Nevada Passed at the ... Session of the Legislature. John Church, State printer. p. 2380.
  20. ↑ "Grace Melissa Dangberg Historical Marker". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
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